


Under The Bridge

by brokenhighways



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst and Humor, Fairy Tale Retellings, M/M, Magic, Schmoop, Trolls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-18
Updated: 2013-03-18
Packaged: 2017-12-05 17:26:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/725905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brokenhighways/pseuds/brokenhighways
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There once lived a troll called Jensen. His abode was underneath the bridge that led to the next town and the story was that he would eat anyone who dared to cross it. To Jared the story was just that - a fictional story, yet the townspeople took it seriously and often came up with arduous and complicated ways to get to the next town. But one day as he attempted to cross the bridge with his father and brother, he realised that all was not as it seemed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Under The Bridge

**Author's Note:**

> LOL, this is sort of based on Billy Goats Gruff. I don't even know. Thanks to _soncnica_ and _anon_fan_ for their help :)

There once lived a troll called Jensen. His abode was underneath the bridge that led to the next town and the story was that he would eat anyone who dared to cross it. To Jared, the story was just that, a fictional story but the townspeople took it seriously and often came up with arduous and complicated ways to get to the next town. None of which made any sense to Jared. Up until a few years ago, he hadn’t even heard any mention of this troll. Luckily for him, as a worker of the local carpentry, he didn't have any desire to reach the next town. Not until his father announced one sunny morning that they'd been invited to attend a woodwork convention in Eastville, the town across the bridge. Jared's brother and father were most excited whereas Jared was more curious about how they were to cross the bridge. When Jared put this question to his father he replied with,  
  
"We're the biggest men in this town. That slimy troll won't dare to upend us!"  
  
Which wasn't the most convincing answer but Jared shrugged it off and went to locate some candy. On the day of their departure, Jared packed all the things he'd need for the following week and smiled and laughed along with his overexcited brother and father. Truth be told, the idea of a woodwork convention bored him to tears. But he didn't want to admit this as his father took immense pride in their family business. So he armed himself with coffee, and the three of them set off for the bridge. On the way his brother and father joked about how they'd deal with the troll. Unfortunately for them, Jared knew what they were capable of. So he rolled his eyes and drowned out the conversation by wondering if Eastville had different types of candy for him to sample.  
  
Before Jared knew it, they'd approached the bridge. The three of them paused for a few seconds before they stepped forward and began to cross it tentatively. At first there was nothing conspicuous apart from a few creaks from where the path was worn out. But as they neared the halfway mark, loud thunderous footsteps meandered towards them.  
  
"What are you doing on my bridge!" boomed the person when they appeared. Granted, Jared had been expecting a troll, but this guy looked human. Or well sort of, his face was mostly covered by a thick, ginger-brown beard and he wore a tattered hat and his clothes were in the same state. "Jared!" At the sound of his name, Jared turned and saw that his father and brother were scrambling backwards, in the direction that they'd come from. With a roll of his eyes, he stepped forward and approached the human like troll.  
  
"You do realise that this isn't actually your bridge, right," he said as the troll regarded him suspiciously. "'Cause stopping people from crossing over is kind of a dick move." The troll didn't say anything and Jared sighed and turned again to see his brother and father waiting at the end of the bridge. He shook his head, but was quickly distracted by the fact that the troll had reached him and stolen his coffee.  
  
"Hey!" Jared protested, as the troll practically inhaled the drink. When he was done the troll blinked and looked at him, his green eyes shining vibrantly in the sunlight. Jared was transfixed.  
  
"Man, I haven't had coffee in years," the troll said, and his voice was hoarse and low despite the fact that he'd yelled at them very loudly earlier on. "I'm Jensen, by the way." Jared gaped at Jensen for a few minutes before he snapped his mouth shut and opened it again to reply.  
  
"Uh, I'm Jared, maybe if you left the bridge every once in a while, you'd be able to get coffee." Jensen mumbled something under his breath and he glared at Jared.  
  
“Get off my bridge,” he said quietly and Jared raised an eyebrow. It seemed as though he’d upset Jensen somehow but he frowned at the man (or troll) anyway.  
  
“What will it take for you let my father and brother cross over?” he asked in the end. “I’ll do one favour for you if you let them pass.”  
  
Jensen seemed to consider this for a few moments as he cocked his head to one side. It was hard for Jared to read Jensen’s facial expression under the bushy, wild beard so he just waited patiently. He glanced back and saw that his brother and father were talking animatedly at the foot of the bridge. Cowards, he thought to himself, though he couldn’t help the small smile that formed on his face. He’d never let them live this down.  
  
“Fine,” Jensen said eventually, with his voice sounding a lot clearer than it had before.  
  
“You agree to stay with me under the bridge for a week and I let them pass.” Jared wrinkled his nose up as he contemplated the amount of dirt festering beneath the bridge. It didn’t sound promising. But a deal was a deal. Still, there was no harm in negotiating.  
  
“Two days?” he suggested.  
  
“One week.”  
  
“Three?”  
  
“One week or nothing,” Jensen said with a shrug. “Take it or leave it.”  
  
“Fine,” he said, deciding to ask Jensen why he couldn’t just leave the bridge later on. “I’ll go and fetch them so they can be on their way.” He’d taken a few steps towards the direction that he’d come from when he heard Jensen call his name.  
  
“Do you think that you could bring me another coffee?”  
  
Jared shook his head in despair.  
  
His father was initially aghast at the deal that Jared had made. Jared thought about pointing out the fact that more people would have been able to leave the town if they’d just communicated with Jensen. But he wasn’t sure how valid that was so he shrugged and told his father to take it or leave it. Eventually, his brother and father set off on the bridge once again and Jared watched as they crossed it successfully with no intervention from Jensen.  
  
He smiled.  
  
\--  
When he arrived back at the bridge, night had arrived and Jared was out of breath. He’d only meant to be gone for forty-five minutes or so, but an emergency in the town had come up. The coffee that he’d purchased had gotten cold, so he’d had to deal with the emergency and rush back to the coffee store as well as picking up a few items from the small house he shared with his brother and father. If he was staying with Jensen for a week, the least he could do was help the troll look presentable.  
  
But first he had to deal with the thundering footsteps currently heading his way, as he crossed the bridge. Idly, Jared realised that he needed to amend their agreement to ensure that Jensen left the bridge alone for a week. The townspeople had been very shocked to hear that two people had actually made it to Eastville.  
  
“Get off my bridge!!” Jensen’s loud voice echoed in the darkness and Jared exhaled deeply. He couldn’t see Jensen’s face very well so he held up a hand and said.  
  
“Jensen, it’s me – Jared.” There was a short silence as Jensen stepped out of the shadows, and Jared watched as the moonlight illuminated the man’s green eyes. He still couldn’t quite read Jensen’s face underneath his bushy beard. That’d be the first thing to go, he decided as Jensen came even closer.  
  
“Oh…” Jensen said softly. “I didn’t think that you would return. That wasn’t the first deal that I’d made.”  
  
“Well, here I am,” Jared replied cheerfully. “With coffee! Can we go under the bridge now. It’s freezing outside.” Jensen nodded and turned to lead the way and Jared thanked God that he remembered to pack a couple of sleeping bags.  
  
\--  
  
Jensen’s living quarters weren’t as dire as Jared had expected them to be. There was a small opening between two large boulders that was roughly big enough for him to have a couple of wooden chairs and a small table inside it. There was a small lantern hooked to the plane of one of the boulders and Jared was glad to see that they wouldn’t be sitting in darkness for the week. As he inspected the furniture, he frowned to himself. It looked familiar. Almost like the ones he’d made as practice when he was planning to join the family business. Of course his father had laughed, patted him on his head while ruffling his hair and declared that Jeff’s first attempt had been much better. So in a fit of rage, Jared had tossed them over the side of the bridge and proceeded to try again.  
  
“You nearly threw those on me that day when you tossed them over the bridge,” Jensen said when he caught Jared looking at them. “Guess I’m lucky that your arms were shorter then.”  
  
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t realise that there was an actual troll under this bridge until a few years ago. I just thought it was a myth.” Jared was immediately startled when Jensen threw back his head and laughed. Jensen laughed and laughed until he was completely hunched over and wracked with strong fits of continued laughter. Jared blinked at the sight before him as he waited for Jensen to sober up.  
  
“You do realise that I’m not actually a troll, don’t you?” Jensen said eventually. “I think if I was I would have tried to eat you or smashed your brains out by now.”  
  
Considering the fact that Jensen was still a stranger, that was not a comforting thought at all.  
  
“Gee, thanks,” Jared muttered haughtily. “You still look like a troll.” Before Jensen could argue, Jared knelt down and dived into his rucksack; he pulled out a mirror and handed it to Jensen. Jensen was still and quiet as he looked at his reflection and Jared busied himself with taking out a few more items. He’d packed a flask full of coffee, and some meat stew that he’d picked up from his neighbour. As well as an assortment of fruit and vegetables and a pack of playing cards. Jared wasn’t going to allow himself to starve or die of boredom underneath a damn bridge.  
  
“Well,” Jensen said after he’d regarded himself silently for several minutes. “I look like more of a caveman than a troll.”  
  
Jared didn’t quite know how to respond to that.  
  
“So, why do you never leave the bridge?” He asked instead because he was curious. It didn’t seem as though Jensen was here by choice.  
  
“A witch in Eastville,” Jensen said by a way of explanation. “I…turned down her advances and she put a curse on me. I can’t leave the bridge until my true love comes to rescue me.” Jared practically recoiled in horror. A witch? Just what kind of place was Eastville?  
  
“We don’t have any witches in Westville,” Jared said sombrely. “Did she tell you who your true love was?”  
  
“Of course not!” Jensen snapped and before Jared knew what was happening, Jensen snatched up his rucksack and disappeared into the small opening. Jared blinked and sat down on a nearby rock. He was sure that Jensen would re-emerge eventually.  
  
\--  
  
A while later Jared felt something on his arm. He sat up with a start, his eyes heavy with sleep and his mouth dry. Even with the constant tug on his arm, he felt his eyes begin to droop again and he nodded sleepily as a voice said,  
  
“Come inside. You’ll freeze if you sleep outside.” So he followed the voice into the warmth and was asleep within seconds after his back hit the soft and firm material.  
  
Or rather, the hard and itchy material that Jared woke up to at dawn. He was just about to move when he realised that something was behind him. There was a quiet snuffle and then Jared realised that Jensen was curled up behind him. Jared was ashamed to say that his first thought was thank god that he didn’t eat me in my sleep! But then he remembered that Jensen was just a human, like Jared. He rolled around quietly, trying his best not to wake up Jensen. However, all of his hard work was undone when he gasped loudly. The wild, bushy beard had gone. As had most of Jensen’s ratty, over grown hair. Somehow Jensen had transformed from being a scary, hairy looking thing to a delightfully handsome man with full lips and a smattering of cute freckles across his face.  
  
Jared could have sworn that his heart skipped a beat.  
  
As he stared, Jensen’s eyes began to flutter and eventually they opened and Jared found himself looking into those green eyes. The green eyes stared back for a few seconds before they narrowed and Jensen jerked back violently.  
  
“Stop looking at me,” he grumbled as he turned around. “I must look terrible.”  
  
“Quite the opposite,” Jared said to Jensen’s back. “You’re…what Eastville would call sexy. At least that’s what they say in all of those romantic comedies. Oh and the action movies of course.” It was a well-known fact that Eastville was a lot more advanced than Jared’s town. That was where all the famous people went to live as well as those who could afford it. Personally, Jared was happy with what he had.  
  
“Thanks,” Jensen mumbled with a snort and Jared hummed happily. “Look…you don’t have to stay. I just…I didn’t want to be lonely for once in a while. That’s why I insisted on the deal, but that wasn’t fair. And you were right. It’s not my bridge.”  
  
Jared barely stopped to think before he said, “You have me for six more days, like we agreed. Besides, most of my friends go to college in Eastville and my family is out of town. I don’t have anywhere else to be.”  
  
Even though Jensen still had his back to him, Jared could tell that he was smiling.  
  
\--  
  
They spent the first day playing cards. It turned out that Jensen was quite the master at poker and soon, a large amount of pebbles were piled up in front of him while Jared was left to stare at his own meagre pile. With a huff, he threw down his cards and said,  
  
“Let’s take a break from this for a while.” Jensen nodded amiably and set his hand of cards down and shifted away from the small table.  
  
“Tell me about you,” Jensen said as Jared began to fiddle with a loose thread hanging off his shirt.  
  
“Uh, I’m 24 years old, I work with my Dad and my brother at carpentry and I’ve always really wanted a dog but my brother is allergic,” Jared shrugged. “I’m pretty boring. What about you? How did you happen to come by a witch?”  
  
“I’m—I was an actor back in Westville,” Jensen replied. “I loved the work but the fame that came with it was a nightmare. And you have to be really careful whose toes you step on. I knew that and for the most part I was. But then this older actress, Samantha she started hitting on me. I turned her down because…I like guys. None of my attempts to flatter her stopped her from putting the curse on me.”  
  
“There’s got to be a reversible spell somewhere,” Jared pointed out as his brows furrowed in thought. He stood up and walked to the corner where he’d stashed his rucksack. As he was stretching back up, his head collided with the hard rock and Jared stumbled backwards as the pain reverberated around his skull. Before he could so much as make a squeak, Jensen was there to guide him towards the bales of hay that formed his makeshift bed. The floor space was so minimal that when Jensen tripped he landed right on top of Jared, and Jared could feel Jensen’s muscled body pressing into his.  
  
“Ow,” he said meekly, as he ignored the weird swooping feeling in his stomach and the way certain parts of his body were reacting. Jensen was up and off him in a flash and he meandered outside of the small cave, leaving Jared to take in a few lungful’s of air.  
  
So maybe he liked Jensen a little. So what? He had eyes, he could find another man attractive without having to court him or marry him. It’s not like he was going to fall for the guy who’d been living under a damn bridge. Jared shook his head to rid himself of his jumbled thoughts but regretted it instantly when pain hit him again and he groaned.  
  
“Here, drink this,” Jensen said as he handed Jared a bowl. Jared didn’t question it, he just took the bowl and down the water inside it, wincing as a burst of sourness hit his tongue. “You’ll feel a lot better when you wake up.”  
  
\--  
  
Jared didn’t feel like himself until the next day, when he woke to find Jensen wrapping a bandage around his head. Jared frowned; he was very certain that he hadn’t packed any when he’d been gathering items for his stay under the bridge. And Jensen supposedly couldn’t leave. Where had he gotten them from?  
  
“I got the bandages from Samantha,” Jensen said when he caught Jared staring at the unused roll for too long. “She feels bad that I’m stuck here so she sends me a care package every once in a while.”  
  
“That’s big of her,” Jared muttered under his breath as Jensen moved around the small space and tidied it up a little. Jared’s stomach chose just that moment to grumble loudly and his face flushed as Jensen laughed softly.  
  
“After five years away from civilisation, turns out that I still kind of hate grapes.” It was said in a light-hearted manner but Jared’s mind zoned in on five years and stopped there. He knew that Jensen had supposedly been under the bridge for a long time, but he hadn’t realised that it’d been that long.  
  
“You’ve been here for that long?” he asked.  
  
Jensen shrugged, “The spell doesn’t exactly make sense. I’m confined to the bridge yet to be freed I need to meet my true love somehow. What are the chances that they’ll ever find me? Why’d you think that I’m on that bridge so much?” Jared paused to consider this for a moment before he nodded.  
  
“Okay, that makes sense.”  
  
“And in five years, you’re the only person who’s stopped to talk to me.” Jared froze. Jensen was staring at him pointedly and Jared cleared his throat uncomfortably.  
  
“Yeah, because I wanted you to let my father and brother pass over the bridge,” he said eventually.  
  
“Or some kind of force drove you to speak to me!” Jensen said. “Look, all we need to do is test this out. If you’re not my true love, you’re free to go.”  
  
“And if I am?” Jared asked in an affronted tone. “You just expect me to sail into the sunset with you? I barely know you.”  
  
“That’s why I asked you to stay for a week,” Jensen protested. “That should be long enough for us both to know. All you need to do is kiss me once and if I can’t leave the bridge we’ll know that you’re not my true love.”  
  
“If you want a kiss, you’re going to have to earn it first,” Jared said softly as he ignored the way his heart was skipping beats at the thought of kissing Jensen.  
  
This was easier when Jensen was just a mean old troll who lived under the bridge.  
  
\--  
  
Jared turned on the cell phone he had for emergencies on the third day and answered his father’s worried voicemails with a brief call. Jensen hadn’t entered the small cave since their conversation the previous day and Jared sighed to himself. It’s not that he thought Jensen was repulsive or anything, but this true love business made him very apprehensive. He wasn’t sure if he was ready to find his true love yet. There was so much that Jared wanted to do, travel the world, start his own business. Wouldn’t settling down with Jensen derail his plans?  
  
As he stepped outside, he was met with the sight of a trail of pebbles arranged on the ground. After glancing at it for a few seconds, Jared realised that the pebbles formed a giant heart-shaped space along with a few straggly flowers lying in the center. He had to admit that it was a little endearing. Before he could move any closer, Jensen emerged from where he’d been. He looked different; he was wearing different clothes that seemed newer and cleaner than his old set.  
  
“Look, I’m sorry about yesterday,” Jensen said once he’d reached where Jared was standing. “I didn’t even think to ask if you had a boyfriend or girlfriend before springing that on you.”  
  
“I don’t,” Jared said. “I would have mentioned it. Besides, I did tell you that you were sexy on my first day here. I was just a little overwhelmed by the whole…true love thing.”  
  
“So, are you ready to kiss me now?” Jensen asked with a grin.  
  
“You’re going to have a to try a little harder.”  
  
\--  
Later that day, Jared got Jensen to tell him more stories about Westville. It turned out that Jensen was a great storyteller, he was funny and answered all of his questions patiently and Jared found himself feeling bad for the man. He couldn’t quite imagine being stuck somewhere for five years without having anywhere to go. If anything, it made Jared feel like a horrible person for not kissing Jensen already. But there was a part of him that took pleasure in teasing Jensen and watching his eyes light up as he gave Jared another suggestive glance.  
  
“Have you had many boyfriends?” Jared asked, cutting Jensen off mid-story. He blushed in embarrassment almost immediately but Jensen grinned.  
  
“Yes and no,” he answered. “I was mostly too busy working to have a serious relationship.” The not-serious relationships were obviously implied and Jared hated the way that his face grew even hotter.  
  
“What about you?” Jensen asked when Jared didn’t say anything? “Any girl or boyfriends?”  
  
“Uh, not really,” Jared said. “There’s never really been anyone…uh, serious, just a few friends with…uh, mutual interests. But there hasn’t ever been anyone that I’d like to have a fully blown relationship with.”  
  
“Until now?”  
  
“Yes,” Jared said, before he realised what he’d answered to and his eyes widened. “What? No! Stop trying to put words in my mouth.”  
  
“I’d be happy to put something else in your mouth,” Jensen was quick to respond and his smile grew bigger as Jared spluttered in response.  
  
He quickly escaped to the small stream nearby to fill up his water bottle and ignored the way his pants were suddenly more constricted around his crotch area.  
  
\--  
By the time the fifth day came around, Jared had lost his patience. There’d been two days of come-ons; innuendo, flirting, lewd winks and suggestive smiles and Jared had been left flustered more often than not. It’s not that he didn’t appreciate the attention; it was just that he didn’t think that Jensen was taking this seriously. Jared got the impression that there was more to this than the true love spell reversal. Sometimes he caught Jensen with a sad expression in his eyes but in a flash, it’d be replaced by a lustful one. Eventually Jared deduced that Jensen was merely playing a role. He was pretending to be something that he wasn’t in order to get Jared to kiss him.  
  
When he put all of this to Jensen, the man simply bowed his head down and apologised for making Jared angry. As the tension fled from Jared’s shoulders, he sighed to himself wistfully.  
  
“I’m not angry,” Jared said. “Just confused. Why can’t you just be yourself?”  
  
“Oh that would go down well,” Jensen huffed. “Boring someone isn’t the best way to get them to like you.”  
  
“But being honest is,” Jared replied. “I liked you just fine before the overbearing flirting. I didn’t find you boring at all.”  
  
“Really?” Jensen asked, with a hint of hopefulness in his voice.  
  
“ _Really_ ,” Jared insisted.  
  
\--  
After that things were much better. Jared still had an odd feeling in his stomach sometimes and he caught himself sort of missing the flirting once or twice. But overall, Jensen was much easier to be around when he was just being himself.  
  
“So, what do you miss most?” Jared asked on the sixth day. “There must be certain things that you long for more than others.”  
  
“Yeah, my freedom!” Jensen snapped with a huff and he twisted his body around on the tree stump he was sitting on, so that his back was facing Jared. Jared’s heart fell as he wondered what he’d said wrong. A long silence passed between them before Jensen seemed to relent and turned back around, with a sheepish look on his face.  
  
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to snap at you. You were just talking. Like I wanted you to.” He sounded so down that Jared felt himself smiling widely and shrugging Jensen’s bad mood off.  
  
“It’s okay,” he said. “It was an insensitive question.”  
  
“Touch,” Jensen said thoughtfully, as if he hadn’t heard what Jared had said, even though he was looking right at him. “I mean, I wasn’t the most touchy-feely person, but it’s been years of just…nothing. Never thought that I’d miss my mother’s hugs.” Jared smiled sadly because he could relate to that at least. Still, this wasn’t the time to dwell on his own memories; he was supposed to be cheering Jensen up.  
  
“I love hugging!” he said excitedly, ignoring the raised eyebrow on Jensen’s face directed at his outstretched his arms. “Get over here.” Jensen was hesitant at first, but eventually he stood and ambled over to where Jared was standing.  
  
“I don’t bite,” Jared said when Jensen stopped and eyed Jared suspiciously. “Unless you want me to?” Where had that come from? Jared decided that Jensen was a bad influence on him as the unsure look on Jensen’s face morphed into a smirk.  
  
“We’ll make a smooth talker out of you yet,” Jensen mused as he stepped into Jared’s arms. Jared tightened his arms around Jensen’s form and moved his face closer. Jensen smelt like the earth and sweat but Jared couldn’t help breathing it in. He found that he kind of liked it. They held each other for several minutes. They moved to pull away at the same time, noses bumping as they both misjudged the other’s position. For a brief moment, Jared’s gaze was drawn to Jensen’s lips and it was like time stopped. The tension between them was palpable…Jared just wasn’t sure what kind of tension it was.  
  
In the end, confused by all the different feelings and emotions twirling in his stomach, Jared stepped back. Jensen gave him a small smile but he didn’t say anything.  
  
They played poker (with pebbles instead of chips) in silence for the rest of the day.  
  
\--  
By the time Jared woke on the last day, Jensen was already gone from the small cave that had been his home. Jared felt a twinge of sadness at the thought of the kiss not working. He couldn’t just leave Jensen here on his own. Jared sighed to himself when he realised that not only would he miss Jensen, but he’d be devastated if he wasn’t the solution that Jensen needed.  
  
With a burst of determination, he got up, washed up by the stream and packed up his belongings. As he was packing, Jensen sauntered in and frowned when he saw what Jared was doing.  
  
“Where were you?” Jared asked, as he sat down on the bales of hay. Though, they were hell to sleep on, he was almost starting to find them comfortable. There was a hint of sun peeking into the cave and birds were chirping in the air. Jared definitely had a good feeling about today.  
  
“Just scaring a couple of people up on the bridge,” Jensen replied with a grin. “Think of it as a farewell, if you will.” Jared smiled back. It was good to see that Jensen was being positive about his chances of getting off the bridge.  
  
“If this doesn’t work, I’ve decided to just stay down here permanently,” Jensen explained. “So I just wanted one last chance to raise a little hell.” He was putting on a brave face but for once, Jared could see right through it.  
  
“That’s ridiculous!” He exclaimed, heart racing at the thought of Jensen just giving up if their kiss didn’t work. “Why would you do that?”  
  
“Because I can’t imagine my true love being anyone other than you,” Jensen said softly. “You’re the first person who stopped to talk to me. The only person that I’ve had any interaction with and, you’re just…amazing. No one else would even live up to you.” A million different responses flew around in Jared’s head, but there was only one thing that he wanted to do.  
  
“You idiot,” he murmured as he reached out and practically dragged Jensen towards him.  
  
Before Jensen could say anything, Jared covered Jensen’s mouth with his own and kissed him hungrily. Jensen’s lips were softer than Jared could have imagined and his heart thudded in his chest. Jensen moaned softly as he deepened the kiss and Jared pressed closer, not wanting to be the one to break it. Eventually they pulled apart, and Jared heard Jensen’s quick intake of breath as he stared at Jared with wide eyes.  
  
This time, Jensen grabbed him and kissed him again, it was hot and demanding yet the pressure was just right. Jared could feel the roughness of Jensen’s stubble and the way that Jensen shuddered slightly as their tongues tangled. He revelled in the way Jensen tasted and instantly missed the contact when they broke apart once again.  
  
“Wow,” Jensen said as if he was in some sort of trance. “I’ve never been kissed like that before.”  
  
“Me neither,” Jared said with a small smile. He reached out and entwined Jensen’s hand with his, and pulled Jensen down to sit on the makeshift bed. They still had the rest of the day; they didn’t have to see if it’d worked just yet. The glint in Jensen’s eye told Jared that Jensen was having the same thoughts.  
  
\--  
  
It was almost dark when they made their way to the top of the bridge. Gone was the bright sunlight, and in its wake there was gale and fat droplets of rain. Jared wasn’t sure why something as mundane as the weather made him feel nervous, but he did his best to make sure that it didn’t show on his face. They’d spent the rest of the day mapping each other’s mouths out, laughing and talking about what Jensen would do when he was free. Go for a drive, was said in a wistful tone and Jared wondered if that meant that Jensen would return to Westville eventually.  
  
Jensen was quiet as they made their way up the steep staircase that led to the top of the bridge. Silence engulfed them as they reached it and set out towards the end. The rain fell steadily and heavily but Jared couldn’t hear it. Just a deafening silence and his heart beating through his chest so fast that he was sure that it’d burst out.  
  
But things were progressing smoothly until Jensen stopped suddenly, right as they were approaching the end of the bridge. They were so close and Jared couldn’t understand why he’d stopped.  
  
“Come on,” he said, as the rain poured down, drenching them even further. “Jensen, we’re almost there. You can’t…you can’t give up now.” It took several seconds for Jensen to look up at him, and when he did there was sadness in his eyes.  
  
“I can’t go any further,” he said and attempted to step forward but some sort of invisible force held him back. Jared gasped loudly and Jensen took a step backwards.  
  
It hadn’t worked. The kiss hadn’t worked.  
  
Jared reached out to grab Jensen, but realised that his hands were full of his belongings. As he scrambled to find somewhere safe to put them, Jensen started to walk away with his head bowed down.  
  
“Jensen!” Jared practically screamed out the name and Jensen stopped. “Wait!”  
  
“No!” Jensen called back. “It didn’t work and that’s that. Just go.” And he turned back around and walked off into the distance, eventually becoming a blurry figure. As Jared shook out his wet hair from his eyes, he felt tears streaming down his face.  
  
As he trudged home the rain washed his tears away.  
  
\--  
  
Jared spent the next three days wallowing in his despair. He ignored attempts at conversation made by his brother and father as he sat in his spot by the window, wondering where everything had gone wrong. Realistically, he knew that it had to be an issue with the spell. But Jared couldn’t quite stop blaming himself for what had happened. Maybe there had been something that he’d failed to do.  
  
Eventually, the return of his best friend Chad woke Jared up from his depressed state.  
  
“What the hell is that the matter with you?” Chad asked on the fourth afternoon as he took a huge bite of the sandwich that was meant for Jared’s lunch. Not that he would have eaten it anyway. “Your brother told me that you took on that nasty troll under the bridge. You’re a real hero, you know? How’d you think I got here so quickly?!” The words only made Jared sadder and he turned to glare at Chad.  
  
“He’s not nasty,” he said angrily. “And he’s not a troll either! His name is Jensen. He’s just a man, like you and me, who’s trapped under there because of some stupid spell.” Chad looked at him as though he was crazy but Jared stared right back. It was almost as if he was daring Chad to challenge him. Chad must have seen something in Jared’s expression, because he sighed and sat down across from him.  
  
“Okay well, have you tried finding the person who cast the spell?” Jared blinked. He hadn’t even thought of that. What had been her name again? Samantha? Chad was an actor, maybe he knew who she was.  
  
“He said that an older actress called Samantha put a curse on him.”  
  
“Samantha? Not Samantha Ferris? Wait, what did you say the guy’s name was again?” Chad asked as he pulled out a fancy looking gadget from his pocket.  
  
“Jensen,” Jared said with a frown, as he watched Chad type away at the illuminated screen. “What are you doing?”  
  
“Searching your boy’s name,” Chad mumbled, his eyes glued to the screen. After a few seconds he looked up. “Got it! Man, you’ve got to move out to Eastville. It has everything! And it beats chopping wood all day long!”  
  
“Chad,” Jared said, not wanting them to get off topic.  
  
“Oh right,” Chad said as he held out the device to him. “This is Jensen Ackles. Is he the same one under the bridge?” Jared took the device – it was some sort of cell phone – and looked at the screen carefully. Sure enough, the picture displayed was Jensen. He looked a lot more polished and well, clean, but it was definitely him. He felt his stomach lurch at the loss. It was crazy how much he missed the other man. Somehow, it felt like he’d spent more than a week in Jensen’s presence.  
  
“This is him!” Jared confirmed and Chad took the phone back from him and tapped away at it for a few minutes. Jared had begun to slip into a daydream when Chad shoved the phone into his hand and told him to speak.  
  
“Uh, hello?”  
  
“Hi there,” came a sultry female voice. “Your friend tells me that you spent some time with Jensen.”  
  
“Yes!” Jared said animatedly. “We did everything you said. Wait, this is Samantha isn’t it. The one who put a curse on him?” There was a heavy sigh of what sounded like regret, and Jared felt some of his anger slipping away.  
  
“I’m sorry for what I did,” she replied. “By the time I’d realised what I’d done, I had no way to reverse it. I’ve told Jensen how sorry I am.”  
  
“Okay, so what went wrong? I kissed him and it didn’t work.”  
  
“Oh honey, maybe you’re just not the one.” Samantha’s voice was full of disappointment and Jared snapped. He couldn’t handle anymore disappointment. Not when there was an actual chance of him getting Jensen back.  
  
“Or maybe we did something wrong.” Jared could feel his anger rising again and he took a deep breath.  
  
“After we kiss, what are we supposed to do?”  
  
“His true love has to lead him off the bridge,” Samantha said simply and Jared bit back a groan. “You were holding on to each other as he tried to leave, weren’t you?” Jared froze mid-response, because they hadn’t been. He’d had all of his belongs in his hands.  
  
“That’s it?” He said with a disbelieving laugh. “That’s all that we did wrong?!” He didn’t even give her a chance to answer; he just tossed the phone towards Chad, grabbed his coat and ran for the door. A tiny part of his mind wondered if this silver lining would just be a cruel way of proving that he wasn’t Jensen’s true love. But Jared couldn’t pass up on the opportunity to find out.  
  
He flung open the front door of his house, and he ran.  
  
\--  
  
As Jared ran all the way to the bridge, he ignored the curious stares and shouts and propelled himself forward until he reached his destination. Briefly he wondered if Jensen would be angry with him for staying away, but Jared decided that he didn't care. He owed it to Jensen to see if this would work. He really hoped that it would. By the time, he was bounding down the steps that lead to Jensen's small cave, Jared was out of breath and panting harshly. He wondered how he looked, but quickly pushed aside any self-doubt as Jensen came into view. His vibrant, green eyes were wide with surprise and he was visibly stunned. They stared at one another for a while as Jared regained his breath. Jensen's eyes narrowed before he could speak.  
  
"I told you not to come back," he said bitterly as he turned and retreated inside. Jared followed him in, raising his hand before Jensen could say anything. He was still a little winded, but he didn't think it'd be wise to ask Jensen to give him a minute.  
  
"I spoke to Samantha," he said. "She told me what we did wrong!" Jensen's only response was an annoyed grunt and Jared frowned. He hadn't exactly expected a welcome response but Jensen looked completely disinterested in what he'd said. Jared felt his shoulders slump as he regarded Jensen silently.  
  
"You look terrible," Jensen said eventually.  
  
"You don't look so good yourself," Jared replied even though it was a lie. Even though he looked a little scruffy, Jensen was still as beautiful as he had been four days ago.  
  
"What if this doesn't work either?" Jensen asked sullenly and Jared smiled sadly.  
  
"We won't know until we try." And that how Jared found himself walking back up the narrow staircase and onto the bridge, just like it had been four days ago. Except this time Jensen’s hand was grasped firmly in his. Although Jared was trying to keep things sombre, he couldn’t help the giddy feeling that arose in him as the warmth of Jensen’s hand bled into his. It seemed like such a ridiculous thing to get excited over, but Jared supposed that was what love did to you.  
  
Love?  
  
Before Jared could start his internal panicking, Jensen turned to look at him with a perturbed look on his face.  
  
“This is ridiculous,” he grumbled. “She really said that you had to lead me off the bridge?” Jared stifled a laugh, and tried to quicken their pace. There was no point in strolling, the sooner they reached the end the better. Jensen carried on mumbling, but he didn’t complain about the increased speed. As they reached the point where they’d stopped last time there was a strange sound, kind of like a twinkle. Jared looked up and saw what looked like a trail of small stars circling above them.  
  
“Oh you’ve got to be kidding me,” Jensen muttered as he looked up as well. Jared smiled to himself and took a step forward, pulling Jensen along with him. There was no resistance this time, no force holding Jensen back. In silence, they walked until they reached the end. The sun was shining down on them with a force so bright that Jared found himself shielding his eyes with his free hand. As they stepped off the bridge, Jared glanced at Jensen.  
  
He looked amazed at the sight before him. It was just a plain concrete path leading back to the town, but Jensen was staring at it like it was some sort of perfect utopia.  
  
“So…I guess this means that I’m stuck with you,” Jensen said when he’d found his voice. Jared could see that Jensen was smiling softly so he nudged him gently.  
  
“You’re free to go wherever you want,” he replied even though the thought of Jensen not choosing to stay with him hurt more than he’d ever admit.  
  
“Guess you better lead the way then,” Jensen said as his smile broke out into a grin. “And…thanks. For everything.” Jensen gave him a soulful look and Jared knew exactly what he was trying to say. Thanks for not giving up on me.  
  
Jared leaned down and caught Jensen’s mouth with his, and they shared a kiss. It was soft and sweet and the start of something new. Once they parted, they walked through the town and back to Jared’s house. Jared would like to say that they lived Happily Ever After, but he was wise enough to know that no such thing existed.  
  
Still, what he and Jensen had in the years that followed came pretty damn close.  
  
The End!


End file.
